Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Major Shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc Sells 7,938,699 Shares

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 882,723,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,847,417,700.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 28th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total value of $282,888,946.25.
• On Monday, August 26th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88.
• On Monday, August 19th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70.
• On Thursday, August 15th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99.
• On Wednesday, July 31st, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $284,146,717.60.
• On Monday, July 29th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total transaction of $216,901,561.20.
• On Friday, July 26th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $313,861,763.70.
• On Wednesday, July 24th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $229,779,191.61.
• On Monday, July 22nd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $269,261,980.61.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.75. The stock had a trading volume of 43,911,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,229,773. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.21.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.07.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.